But, I think that life, under the current of westernization, is the goal 99.99% are trying to pursue no matter where.

As for culture thing, if you were native, you raised in that way up to 16 years old or so, you would keep that way in your heart, perhaps not in your mind. Your mind will follow your heart in anything.

Reading recommendation: Moment in Peking. The one of only two novels I read carefully ever.

Mak Nad, you sir are nothing more than a hypocrite. You say you deplore hate and violence yet you threaten to "pound my p*ssy face into the pavement" and refer to Thai people as sub-human gutter rats and dogs LOL

And the children of those rich Lao families will be the ones that will re-shape the future of Laos.

By the way that young lady happens to work for Muanson Media in Vientiane so she didn't just go to Laos for a month as you assumed.

It's obvious that you can't handle people with opposing views, go ahead throw more insults at me and call me a troll for having different views to you. At the end of the day we both know that Laos is moving forward with China, Vietnam and Thailand. In thirty to fifty years times the main cities in Laos will be completely different.

I don't care, the cities are already moving in that direction. I'm not denying that Laos is becoming a wealthier nation, but it still has a long way to go. Real education is good, as it teaches you critical thinking and problem solving. Wealthy people without education are nothing. But then most of the education I see is not real education, it's just substandard education that teaches people to be materialistic and just want objects.

As long as there is a countryside where you can get away from that, I'm fine.

Yes, I think you are a pussy for saying Laos should be like that. Those rich kids are far removed from the everyday Lao way of life. They wouldn't know what it means to be Lao if it hit them in the face.

The same gap exists in most places in the world. Just because there are some wealthy people doesn't mean that everyone in the country shares that lifestyle. The wealthiest man in the world is from Mexico, Carlos Slim, but there are still poor people living without electricity in Mexico. You are a down-syndrome child who can't understand this.

I looked at that wh-re's facebook, what a stupid b-tch. She doesn't know sh-t about any Lao people, all she did when she was in Laos was stay at luxury hotels and post on Facebook with her f-cking stupid hashtags. Yeah, she visited the less fortunate people of Laos, for 2 days and then forgot about them. That c-nt is so full of herself, if she wasn't she wouldn't be taking photos of herself all over the place eating fancy food. She knows nothing about what it means to be Lao.

Lao Americans are mostly shitheads who are either whitewashed or try to act like some "gangsta n!ggers from the hood." I guess you are the whitewashed type, and you are probably also a homosexual.

I never said that the countryside would be completely developed but the landscape will be drastically changed. The investors will build countryside resorts and golf courses everywhere in the rural regions. More modern roads and rail lines will be laid. The dams will change the ecosystem. And don't forget about the plans to expand mining in Laos for its rich minerals. All of these projects will affect the lively hood of rural Lao's and the ethnic minorities.

You'll still have your countryside getaway, the government won't take that away from you anytime soon.

Wow! And I thought I could be narrow minded at times. So any successful Lao women in Laos or overseas Lao women who post pictures of themselves on FB are "wh*res and stuck-up c*nts". Unbelievable!

Right, this "sh*thead, whitewashed probable homosexual" needs to go dolly himself up and go indulge in some gay shenanigans. Shame, thought I might go bust a cap with my n*ggers instead.

This thread has gotten way out of control and off topic. Agree to disagree. End of.

F-ck your fancy materialistic golf courses and foreign investment. Maybe rural Lao people should take up arms against the state and remove these sell-out traitors. Hopefully Laos goes into debt and becomes bankrupt so it never happens. Maybe some Lao people will figure out some basic chemistry and detonate all the dams with explosives.

I can't calm down, that guy is a f-cking disgrace, an embarrassment to all Lao people.

He doesn't care about Lao people at all, and he supports some pretentious Lao-American c-unt woman who goes to Laos and acts all Hi-So to show off in front of the poor villagers and then she retreats back to her 5 star hotel in Luang Prabang.

People like this have never experienced the lives of normal Lao people, they just like to call themselves Lao but live exactly the same way Americans do. This guy is nothing but a fake piece of moldy trash and there's a special place in hell waiting for him when he dies.

It's obvious that LPB7 doesn't actually place any value on the lives of Lao people, even though he claims to be proud of being Lao. The only types he cares about are the rich, well off Lao people that are more similar to westerners and live in their own little bubble within Laos.

It's obvious that he thinks our fellow Lao people who are of lower economic status should just be swept under the rug and left to die while we exploit their land so we can have things "vital" for our nation, such as fancy golf courses, towering hotels and shopping malls. It's obvious that he just wants it to be another Thailand.

Please, LPB7, don't ever call yourself Lao. You're just another piece of sh!t. Go back to the trash can where you belong.

F-ck your fancy materialistic golf courses and foreign investment. Maybe rural Lao people should take up arms against the state and remove these sell-out traitors. Hopefully Laos goes into debt and becomes bankrupt so it never happens. Maybe some Lao people will figure out some basic chemistry and detonate all the dams with explosives.

You've drifted off into the realms of fantasy with those deluded comments. No Lao or ethnic minority peasant in their right mind would attempt to stage an uprising against the state. If they dared to, the state would crush their futile rebellion mercilessly. The same applies to any would be terrorist with an infatuation with explosives.

Even if Laos goes into debt or bankruptcy it won't have the slightest impact on the modernization of Laos. All the funding is coming from foreign investors. At most, the planned developments will be delayed.

All you self-proclaimed true Lao's can rant, rave, curse, sulk and whinge all you like. Laos is changing and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Feel free to inundate me with more compliments and superlatives as I'll be jetting off on my sabbatical of western decadence in a few hours.

Looking forward to seeing you miserable sods moping about the brand spanking new modern Laos in around ten to twenty years time.

What's modern about 2 luxury cars and a swimming pool? This is why I said you're the classic bait and hook troll. They have those things in even the poorest countries, have you ever heard of the "ruling class" and "wealth gaps," especially prevalent in Africa, where the ruling class is up to their neck in diamonds and regular people are starving. It's not easy to just forget about millions of villagers who are reproducing every day and brush them under the carpet, hoping they fade away when the top percentile of the population gets wealthier than they previously were. Obviously with the movements you support what you want is for Laos to become another Africa you fool, and impoverished Lao people might just start getting aggressive and violent like Africans when all the forests are gone and they have no land left to hunt for food, since they cannot afford to buy food in the markets. People are more durable than you think, and brushing them off to the side and hoping they just fade out will NOT work. You are supporting a recipe for disaster.

Ever been to Cambodia? Even little boys will try to attack you with glass bottles and take your money, and guess what? You will see Bentleys and Lexuses driving down the same city roads where you might get attacked. This is what your little plan will most definitely create. Even if Lao people do not turn violent, they will just get more desperate and turn to prostitution or drugs, spreading diseases and addiction all over the country, and with the primitive medical system of Laos, the shit will hit the fan.

I'm not even sure what you hope to accomplish by posting those images, you're just trying to bait like I said. I live in the USA and most of my friends don't even have those things, and I don't see them in the streets very often. Maybe the USA is just not modern enough for a poor little man like you. With what you want, you might as well just go live in Dubai, but knowing you, you just want Laos to be another Dubai.

Yeah, a few rich people will get access to these things, but the majority won't. Even in Thailand I wouldn't say the country is modern. Safety standards and social attitudes are still back in the dark ages, except they have new toys such as Facebook and cars. But even in Thailand, a much wealthier nation, the majority of people don't live like the ones in your images. Hence why I said you're a troll and I doubt you even believe your own argument. Modernization doesn't mean having a few new toys to play with, that's just hedonism and materialism. True modernization comes when Lao people are able to innovate and think for themselves instead of just playing with imported toys which they have no idea how they are made and no understanding of the process behind the development.

This time around I'm not gonna bother getting angry, your argument has more holes than swiss cheese and I'm calling you on your bluff. Insulting you just makes me look uncomposed. By the way, "western decadence"? It's becoming harder to take you seriously, you are just showing us what an ugly person you are on the inside. By the way, my apologies for the insults, I'd like to know what type of person you really are.

Modernization isn't a bad thing but what you posted isn't modernization, just a playboy lifestyle. Where are the pictures of the hospitals and other modern facilities? The university equipped with modern technology such as microscopes, labs etc? You can't provide that, only images of mere toys.

Sorry for the double posts. A second statement, your replies aren't even addressing the points I make in my posts.

To me it seems like you are just typing your posts up in order to sound as obnoxious as you possibly can instead of actually saying anything of value (example: "cheerio lads," "western decadence.") in order to attempt to provoke a reaction from me. (Hence why I think you're a troll, not because you disagree with me.)

I'm not denying that Laos is modernizing, try to name one country in the world that isn't modernizing. Everything evolves, eventually the sun will burn out and all life on Earth will go extinct. I don't disagree with change, nothing is permanent, but you are trying to use photos of imported cars and a swimming pool to represent modernization, which I think is totally wrong and just makes you look like a huge douchebag.

So do you even appreciate anything about Laos? What you appear to be insinuating is that whatever Laos has to offer as of now is of no value and the only way to make Laos have any merit is to uproot whatever is Lao and just replace it with western luxury items. If this is the case, why do you even want to be Lao? Just move to Dubai like I said.

I've already stopped taking you seriously because you've failed to address any of the points I've been making and continue on with your trolling. I didn't say I was a true Lao, I am American, but my heritage is Lao, I speak Lao and I appreciate Laos for what it has to offer, though apparently the wealthy Lao people do not appreciate it in its current state and would rather uproot and supplant all things Lao with western creature comforts such as golf courses for the purpose of their own recreation. If it happens then I accept it, there's no denying reality you fool. Moping about the inevitable future would be on the same level as walking around depressed every day because I know that someday I'm going to get old and die.

I'm not certain you are even sure what Western and especially American culture stands for. It's not "my neighbor got a new plasma screen TV so I need to get one to shut that bastard up." That is just for the shortsighted, narrow-minded fools who lack the capacity to enjoy life without constantly trying to obtain "new toys" before their neighbor Steve does. Western culture promotes a Promethean ideology meant to improve and innovate the many aspects of life. For example, the scientists that are finding cures for diseases, combating viral infections, unlocking the secrets of DNA and trying to create a society where people can think for themselves. This has partially been hijacked by ruthless capitalists and negro-loving liberals and feminists, who contribute nothing to society but a bunch of whine.

I'd say you wealthy Lao people (which I doubt you actually are, I suspect you are an impostor but this is for the sake of comparison) are of the former category, the "get a widescreen TV because my neighbor got one and I have to outdo him" category, and that's the type that will drive society into the dirt the fastest because they don't contribute, they are just mindless consumers feeding off of the system, they are the type to stampede and trample people to death at Wal-Mart because they can't wait to get their new video game. The world doesn't need any of these people, and luxury swimming pools and shopping malls that sell designer clothes don't help society in any shape or form.

What I represent is appreciating Laos for the "Lao" things it has to offer. When tourists travel to Laos they want to see the traditional ways of life, not western-wannabes driving around in luxury cars. You can find that anywhere in the world, and it's not that special really. Why would anyone want to go to Laos just to they could play golf or watch American cable television on a widescreen TV? The Lao identity is an important part of being Lao and selectively allowing the negative traits of western society to seep in and take over will do nothing but collapse Lao society and create a vacuum of lost identity and confusion among youth. The only reason I call Thai people scum is because they are some of the most shallow and materialistic people in the world, and if you want this for Laos then you should seriously take a moment and re-evaluate yourself.

I seriously hope you read my posts thoroughly enough to understand my message and you don't just dish out another post with pictures of fancy cars attached and raving about your stupid "activities," because I really don't care.

I am an American and I also have many friends among the wealthy Western expat communities in Laos, Thailand, and China. One thing I can tell you is that we all look down on the noveau riche class as they are clearly nothing more than peasants with no taste or understanding of the luxury products that they are consuming. It really is pathetic when you see a Chinaman mixing club soda with a $1000 bottle of French wine. This is insulting to us because it is clear that you have no appreciation or knowledge of what you are consuming yet continue to buy it because it makes you look rich.

The truly wealthy classes might have expensive habits but their money is spent on custom made goods and fine pieces of craftsmanship and art. Not on gaudy and tasteless brand labelled shit. It is mostly those who are in debt who spend like they are wealthy. Really wealthy people want to keep it a secret and will downplay their wealth. I have many extremely rich Japanese and Korean friends and I have even tutored some and they will never talk about money or make a point of showing off their wealth. Posting a picture of your Buggati is pathetic and typical peasant behavior. Your family probably has to finance it for the next seven years.

Also no Westerners go to Thailand or Laos to play crappity smacking golf. The US already hasthe best courses and landscapes; there is no reason to go to Asia where the experience will be inferior. It's like the Thai ministry had the "golf pass" visa for a million baht and nobody bought it. Singaporeans understand this. Koreans understand this. Japanese understand this. Americans and Europeans understand this. It is only the newly minted who have no right to their riches and who want to emulate the genuinely successful who don't know this.